Tokyo Motor Show

In the highly competitive midsize-sedan segment, the Mazda6 is the capable-but-overlooked wallflower in the bunch. Mazda hopes to break the sedan out of its shell with the upcoming third-gen model, which will roll into the showroom wearing sharper duds and some high-tech, high-efficiency muscle under the hood. The folks over ...    Read more

Mazda is bringing a slew of show cars to the 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon, and the brand’s booth will prominently feature the upcoming CX-5 crossover at this year’s show. With a launch scheduled for spring 2012 for both Japan and the U.S., the CX-5 is apparently ...    Read more

According to German auto website Auto Motor und Sport, Honda CEO Takanobu Ito confirmed that the Honda EV-STER concept first seen at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show would go into production. The concept comes in less than two inches wider than Honda's tiny Beat, which meets JDM Kei-car standards. The ...    Read more

Automotive News Europe is reporting that Volkswagen design head Walter de Silva is reportedly planning a compact crossover to slot in beneath the Tiguan in Europe. According to ANE, the compact SUV and crossover segment in Europe is up 81 percent, with the Dacia Duster leading the way. VW, which has grand ...    Read more

Its long been a claim of electric car critics that the vehicles marketed and advertised as “green,” are actually worse for the environment than their internal combustion counterparts due to the nature of battery production, and the source of electric power used to charge the batteries. So what do the ...    Read more

Amid all the hoopla surrounding the premiere of the new Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 at last week’s Tokyo Motor Show was some news from Honda, which is arguably even bigger than the two pint-sized sports cars. That announcement was Honda’s next-generation “Earth Dreams ...    Read more

The Nissan Juke Nismo isn’t the only Nismo-tuned concept to make its way to the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. In fact, the company also prepared this one-off version of the electric Leaf hatchback. The Leaf Nismo Concept, as the name would suggest, is merely a Tokyo Motor Show concept car, but ...    Read more

The Subaru BRZ GT300 just debuted at the Tokyo Motor Show days ago, and although it was quite a sight, we had yet to see it in its natural habitat – until now. The GT300 wears its pride on its sleeve as it walks the walk on the track. The GT300 ...    Read more

The 2013 Subaru BRZ rear-wheel drive sports coupe is already in demand, but how much will the car cost? Subaru is mum on details, but we hear that the base car, the BRZ Premium, will start at around $24,000 when it goes on sale, according to Motor Trend Editor-in-Chief Ed Loh. What ...    Read more

It’s another turn of the screw for the Subaru hybrid: we’ve heard multiple reports of a Subaru with a hybrid powertrain for some time now, and it looks like the vehicle is still on track to debut in 2013. The report comes from Automotive News, who spoke with Subaru President Yasuyuki ...    Read more

Following the introduction of several poorly received new models, CEO Takanobu Ito and the whole of Honda appear to have gotten sports-car religion much like Toyota has since Akio Toyoda took over the company in 2009. Admitting that the Honda has made missteps and let its reputation slip, Ito espoused ...    Read more

It may yet be some time before the next-generation BMW M6 arrives on the scene, but German BMW tuner Alpina may have given us the next best thing when the firm unveiled its B6 Bi-Turbo convertible at this year’s Frankfurt show. Today, Alpina debuted the coupe ...    Read more

Audi presence at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show includes this fun little car – the Audi A1 Samurai Blue. The hot hatch’s design theme was inspired by Japan’s national soccer team, whose uniform colors are blue and white. Additionally, the unique A1’s name is a ...    Read more

Now that all the confetti has landed from Toyota and Subaru’s launch of its new rear-wheel drive sports car, it looks like the car’s stats make it a compelling addition to the compact sports segment. The car, first and foremost, will go by more names than an accomplished con-man: we’ve heard ...    Read more

The Nissan Leaf likes to give back. Not only do owners benefit from a tax credit, but the Leaf can also power up a Japanese home for two days and cut the cost of electricity bills in half. Home Smart Charging was showcased this week during the Tokyo show, and is ...    Read more

Honda has pulled the wraps off its electric, rear-wheel-drive roadster at the Tokyo Motor Show. Called the EV-STER, the futuristic small car was teased earlier this month as a sporty roadster with minimal emissions. The concept car uses carbon-fiber construction to keep weight low, although the EV-STER’s compact dimensions also ...    Read more

Mazda’s Tokyo Motor Show stand is trying to bring the soul this year: the company just unveiled the Takeri concept, which follows its new design philosophy called kodo, or soul of motion. Kodo is a new design language for the company which previously designed all of its cars under the nagare ...    Read more

BMW pulled the wraps off the hybridized ActiveHybrid 5 at the Tokyo Motor Show today. BMW released details on the ActiveHybrid 5 a few months ago, but the ActiveHybrid 5 display at the Tokyo Motor Show is the first time we’ve seen it in person. The ActiveHybrid 5 is Bimmer’s ...    Read more

We knew Volkswagen would probably have something up its sleeve at the Tokyo show, but this one surprised us all. The Cross Coupé concept takes the wacky proportions from cars like the BMW X6 and Acura ZDX, grafts on VW's newest design language, and applies it to a compact, ...    Read more

After years of showing limited interest in the fuel-saving technology, Honda has developed direct injection for its volume four- and six-cylinder engines for introduction in 2012. The trio of direct-injection powerplants covers everything from the compact Civic to the Ridgeline pickup truck. Honda hasn’t confirmed where the engines will appear ...    Read more

Information about Nissan’s 2.5 liter in-house hybrid powertrain have been out for a while, but today comes more details about future applications for the powertrain. It will work in all of Nissan's front-wheel drive platforms and be ...    Read more

A partnership between BMW and Toyota Motor Corp. may be in the works – one that would see both automakers collaborate on lithium-ion batteries for hybrids and EVs. Based on a report from Reuters, it seems the two automakers will tackle the dilemma of making batteries lighter and ...    Read more

Nissan will expand its Nismo performance arm to include more road cars in more markets than what’s currently available. Nismo is also the automaker's motorsports arm responsible for all of the automaker’s racing endeavors. The automaker wants the Nismo name to “become synonymous with performance and premium sports variants of mainstream ...    Read more

Nissan’s Juke crossover already has a turbocharged, direct-injected engine and is available with a manual transmission, but for people with even sportier tastes, it looks like Nissan has a concept car for you: the Nismo Juke. Nissan’s Nismo tuning house has made its name tuning racecars, and this year was no ...    Read more

On the heels of the online unveiling of the Toyota GT 86, Subaru has released details of its version of the rear-drive sporty coupe, the BRZ. We were introduced to the design of the BRZ only recently, with Subaru providing the first glimpse  ...    Read more